According to an article on the RNZ website:

Temperatures over the eastern Antarctic sheet have soared up to 40 degrees Celcius above normal levels.

“Dr Kyle Clem, who is an expert on Antarctica’s climate and a research fellow at the Victoria University of Wellington, said the region has just experienced “a perfect storm” from a weather standpoint over five days leading up to 18 March.

“A large low pressure system extended from a north south direction, going from the east coast of Antarctica to Tasmania, he told Morning Report.

“So the northern extent of this low pressure system that was hugged up against a ridge south of New Zealand and it just started drawing moisture in from the sub-tropics from the Tasman Sea and from south-east Australia.

“Then with the extent going all the way down to Antarctica it just brought this warm moist air mass forward all the way to the coast of Antarctica and up onto the plateau of the interior.”

Asked about the ramifications for the stability of the glaciers and the ice, Dr Clem said the most impressive aspect was the amount of snow it dumped on the coast as far as the glaciers are concerned.

Temperatures rose above freezing along the coast but up onto the plateau where it is over 3000 metres in elevation there was no surface melt.

“But what is alarming about this is that we learn new things every day about what this new climate that we live in is capable of and when you see heatwaves like this, even though it may not have done much damage to this part of Antarctica, this can happen in other parts of Antarctica that are much more vulnerable.”

While articles in NZ’s MSM regularly raise eyebrows, this one did in particular, as 40 degrees Celcius is one helluva temperature difference — anyone who lives in Melbourne during the course of a year will attest to that.

Well, there are weather stations in Antarctica and you can check claims made by the Climatists (provided they are in areas where there are weather stations) yourself:

According to antarctica.govt.nz at Scott Base —

Temperature:

  • Mean annual temp: -19.8⁰C
  • Mean temp in February: -11.3⁰C
  • Mean temp in July: -29.0⁰C
  • Lowest recorded temperature at Scott Base: -57.0⁰C (25 September 1968)

and what is it this week?

Nothing too abnormal there.

And at the South Pole?

That looks pretty cold.